Healthcare workers start receiving second dose of Covid-19 vaccines

The administration of the second dose of Covid-19 vaccines on Monday got off to a slow start, with a 61

The administration of the second dose of Covid-19 vaccines on Monday got off to a slow start, with a 61.5% coverage, according to the district health department data.

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Of the 608 people who received the first doses of the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines on January 16, only 369 turned up for the second shot after 29 days. Officials expect the footfall to increase on the next day of the vaccination drive, scheduled for February 18.

“Healthcare workers are aware of the two-shot regimen against coronavirus disease. They will gradually come for the second dose as there is a window period of four to six weeks to take the second vaccine jab,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer.

Both the vaccines — Covaxin and Covishield — comprise two doses, to be administered at a time interval of 28 days. But according to apex drug regulator and experts, the second dose can be given anytime between four and six weeks.

Officials said that the inoculation could become challenging for the health department if partially vaccinated healthcare workers have switched jobs in the one-month period. “If a health worker has switched to a facility within the city, then they can easily walk-in at the session site at the facility or they will be informed to visit the previous vaccination site where they took the first dose. There is, however, no clarity regarding inoculation of people who have moved to other districts in Haryana or a different state,” said Dr MP Singh, district immunisation officer.

In Gurugram more than 24,000 healthcare workers have already taken the first shot and are registered as partially vaccinated on the Co-WIN, a digital platform handling real time data on vaccination. There are almost 30,000 healthcare workers, after removing duplicity, registered as vaccine beneficiaries on the platform.

Since the inoculation process has been slow, the district health department has been holding single-session vaccinations every day for the healthcare staff. On Monday, nine of 50 healthcare workers turned up to take the first shot of their vaccine.

With the beginning of second dose drive, it has become a daunting task for the health department to set up vaccination sites at private hospitals where the first round has been conducted, while simultaneously managing vaccination sites for front-line workers.

“After the first dose, private and public health facilities have limited targeted beneficiaries to be covered, considering that vaccination sites for healthcare workers will decrease in every hospital. On the other hand, the state health department has not conveyed any specific deadline for completing the vaccination of front-line workers. Therefore, the department will continue with that too,” said Singh.

On Monday, as a part of the weekly statewide mega vaccination drive, the health department targeted at least 4,900 front-line workers from the police department, Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), National Security Guards (NSG), panchayati raj institutions, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB), Border Security Force (BSF), revenue department and Bhondsi jail.

Among the targeted, 2,902 took the first dose of the vaccine. MCG vaccination sites reported a poor footfall, with only 398 of 1,100 targeted staff turning up for the vaccine jab. Similarly, only 253 police personnel of the 1,000 targeted personnel got inoculated. The revenue department reported the least footfall, with only five of 100 taking the shot.

“Department heads have been informed about the poor footfall. It is likely that in the vaccination drive to be held on February 18, employees will turn up,” said Yadav.